Missing
by Mogo Girl
Summary: Garcia has gone missing and nobody even knows! Will the team realize it before it's too late and get to her in time? M/G friendship, eventually more I'm sure. Please Read and Review :
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. _

_Finally! The muse decided to come out of hiding and gave me anther story idea. I was beginning to think someone had kidnapped my muse! I'm still not sure exactly where this story is heading but I hope you enjoy. _

MISSING

Prologue

It had been 24 hours since anyone had heard from Penelope Garcia. Of course, it was late on a Sunday night and nobody had really been looking for her either. Last night, the BAU team had all headed out to one of their favorite pubs and had spent some time blowing off steam and destressing. There had been dancing and drinks, good conversation and of course a lot of laughter. By midnight the party was winding down and everyone had headed home. Penelope, being the worrier of the group, had made sure that everyone texted her letting her know they had all arrived home safely. Derek Morgan, Penelope's best friend on the team, had followed her home in his own vehicle, making sure she got in safely before heading on to his own apartment.

There was no reason for anyone to even suspect that anything was amiss. It wasn't unusual for the team to spend Sunday with their respective families, boyfriends, girlfriends or just by themselves before heading back to work on Monday. Before leaving the pub on Saturday night, Derek had suggested that he and Penelope go see a movie the next day, but she had declined, saying she was supposed to be spending the day with Kevin, her boyfriend. That had been a lie. Penelope hated lying, especially to Derek, but Kevin had just broken up with her a few days earlier and she wasn't ready to talk about it just yet, she needed some alone time. She had vowed that she would tell Derek everything on Monday after she had had some time to process the break up herself.

So now it was 2:00 a.m. Monday morning, Penelope had been missing for 24 hours, and nobody had a clue.

_TBC_

_Thought I would start with just a little teaser of a prologue. Don't worry, more to follow soon!_


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the characters, the muse just uses and abuses them from time to time. _

Chapter 1

Penelope opened her eyes but still couldn't see anything. Wherever she was it was dark, dank and musty. She figured she must be in some type of basement, but where? And more importantly, why? After a few minutes, her panic began to subside and she thought back to the events of the previous night:

Last night, after waving to Derek to signal that she was fine and watching him drive off, Penelope had entered her apartment. She was tired, but it was a good tired and she was still humming one of the songs the band had been playing at the Pub earlier that night as she hung up her coat and headed towards the bathroom to wash her face and put on her pajamas. She had only made it as far as the beads that separated the living room from her bedroom when she heard a voice coming from her couch.

"Hey Ms. Garcia"

Penelope had nearly jumped out of her skin as the light beside the sofa clicked on. Looking over she saw Evan Wallace, a teenager she knew from the counseling center she volunteered at, staring back at her.

"Evan! How did you get in here and why did you scare me like that?" Penelope demanded to know as she headed towards the couch.

"I told the landlord that I was your nephew visiting from California and she let me in," Evan stated matter of factly. "I hope you don't mind, but I really didn't have any where else to go."

"Well, I'm definitely going to have a talk with my landlady about security but I guess that's all right, Evan. It must be really important if you went to all this trouble. What's wrong, Sugar?" Penelope said as she sat next to him on the couch.

Evan Wallace was an 18 year old boy whose parents had been viciously murdered in their own bed when he was only 12 years old. Evan had heard the screams and had been able to hide from the killer, thereby sparing his own life. However the memories of that night had understandably severely impacted Evan and he had become quite a troubled young man. Evan was an only child and there had been no other blood relatives to raise him so he had been thrown into the foster care system which did nothing to help the situation either. Now he was 18, had been thrown out of the system on his own and was struggling to survive the streets.

Penelope didn't know too much about him other than he usually stayed on friends couches at night, God only knows what he did during the day. Sometimes, when he had no where else to go, he would come to the Counseling Center and Penelope would allow him to spend the night, even though she wasn't supposed to allow that. Evan didn't open up much and refused to attend group sessions at the center, but sometimes, when no one else was around, Penelope was able to get him to talk and she had worked hard getting him to open up about his feelings. She had also helped him apply for Welfare and to look

for odd jobs. It was a slow go, but she felt she had made some progress with him.

"I haven't seen you around the Center much lately. I came twice last week and you weren't there," Evan said with a sad look on his face.

"I know, Evan, and I'm really sorry about that but I've been really busy at work and I just couldn't make it, Honey. I called and told Ellen to let everyone know that I might not be in for a week or two because of work, didn't she tell you?" Penelope explained.

"Yeah, she told me," Evan responded with a slight bit of resentment in his voice, "but I needed to talk to you and you weren't there. I trusted you, Ms. Garcia, and now just like everybody else in my life, you abandoned me. You promised me you would never do that!" Evan exclaimed as Penelope noticed his fists clench with anger.

"Evan, I'm not abandoning you! It's just that I have other obligations too." Penelope began to sense that something wasn't right as she looked into Evan's eyes which seemed cold and angry. As much as she hated to turn him away, she knew she needed to get him out of her apartment before his anger took over. "Our case at work is over now and I'll be back at the center on Tuesday night, just like always. But it's late now, why don't I give you the key to the room at the Center and you can stay there for tonight and I'll come down and see you tomorrow afternoon, okay?"

"What? You're turning me away again?!? I thought you were different, Ms. Garcia. Now I see you're just like all the rest. Well, I'm not going to let you reject me like everybody else, " Evan pronounced as he drew a gun from the pocket of his jacket and pointed it at Penelope.

"Evan! What are you doing? Where did you get that? Put that thing away!" Penelope pleaded as she tried to remember where her cell phone was and if she could get to it to get help.

"I'm tired of everyone ignoring me and I'm not going to let it happen anymore!" Evan stated defiantly. "For once, I'm going to be in charge and I'm going to get what I want."

"What does that mean, Evan…what are you going to do?" Penelope asked frantically as she desperately tried to think of a way out.

"You're coming with me, Ms. Garcia, and I'm going to make sure you don't leave me again like all the others," Evan stated ominously as he stood and grabbed Penelope by the arm while keeping the gun pointed at her head. "Let's go!"

Penelope began to shake with fear as Evan jerked her up off the couch. "Where are you taking me, Evan?"

"Where no one will ever find us so we can be together and I'll finally have someone to be with me." Shoving Penelope in front of him, Evan got behind her and stuck the gun between her shoulder blades. "I suggest you come along with me quietly, Ms. Garcia, or I'll kill us both. I really don't want to hurt you but you're the last person I have left and if you don't come with me now then there's nothing for me to live for anyways."

Penelope had no doubt that whatever delusions Evan may be suffering from, that he was lucid enough to follow through on his threat. Unable to see anyway out of this horrible situation, she allowed Evan to guide her outside to an old Ford pickup that was parked just around the corner from her apartment building. Forcing her to get in the passenger side, Evan removed a pair of handcuffs and quickly cuffed her right wrist to the door handle so she couldn't get out.

"Evan, think about this!" Penelope pleaded as she tugged on the cuffs. "I promise, I'll get you some help and we can talk all you want but don't do this!"

"It's too late! I'm tired of giving chances, now it's my turn and things are going to be done my way! Now shut up and let me think!," he screamed with tears of his own rolling down his cheeks. Raising his arm, he smashed the butt of the gun alongside Penelope's temple, knocking her unconscious.

Now it was hours later and Penelope was waking up in this dark and musty basement, the cuffs on her wrist exchanged for a 10 foot chain that was attached to a hook in the wall. As her eyes adjusted to the light she could tell that there was an old mattress, a rickety chair and an old card table around her. Beyond that, there wasn't much to see other than the concrete floor and damp stone walls around her. How long had she been here? Where was here and where was Evan? All she knew was that she was cold and scared, her head felt like there was a jackhammer pounding inside of it and that no one knew where she was.

"_Well this a fine mess, Garcia," _she thought to herself. _"What the hell are you going to do now?"_

_TBC…_

_I hope you liked this chapter. I tried to make an Unsub who was a little bit sympathetic just to try something different. . Let me know what you think!_


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer - I don't own Criminal Minds, no matter what I say!_

Chapter 2

As Penelope scanned the dark room for anything that might help her, a shaft of light appeared from above her. A door was opening from above with the light streaming down the decrepit stairway that led down to the basement. Holding her breath, she watched as a man descended from the top step. With the light behind him it was hard to see more than a shadowy outline but Penelope could see that it was Evan headed her way with something in his hands.

"Evan?" she asked tentatively as she watched him approach.

"Yes, it's me, Ms. Garcia. I've brought you some breakfast," Evan replied as he placed a plate of what appeared to be a crudely made omelet and a glass of milk on the table.

"Evan, I think after all of this you can call me Penelope," Garcia said with almost a chuckle as she realized the sheer absurdity of the situation she was in. "Thank you for the breakfast."

Penelope struggled to get to her feet and Evan reached over a hand to help steady her as she rose. "I'm sorry about this Ms….I mean, Penelope, but I just had to keep you quiet until we got here. I'm sure you'll come to see that this isn't so bad. I promise I'll take good care of you. I know I'm glad you're here," Evan said as he pulled out the chair for Penelope to sit in.

"Where are we, Evan?"

"I can't tell you that, Penelope, not yet. It's not important anyways." Evan responded.

"Well, can you at least tell me how long we've been here?" Penelope asked desperately trying to get any information she could.

"It's 7:30 on Monday morning. You were out for quite a while, I'm glad you're ok now. I thought I might have hit you too hard."

"Yeah, well it was plenty hard for me, Sugar" , Penelope snickered as she reached up and rubbed the side of her head. "Evan, you really can't think this is ok can you? You do realize that you have to let me go or people are going to start looking for me. I work for the FBI for God's sake."

"Why are you trying to leave me, Penelope?" Evan scowled. "I told you, you're my last chance. Either you stay here or we both die…please don't make me do that! Now, finish your breakfast and I'll be back in a little while so we can have that talk I wanted to have with you last week when I couldn't find you at the Center." With that, Evan turned to leave and headed back up the steps.

"Evan! Please don't leave!" Garcia cried but to no avail as she heard the door at the top of the stairs slam shut.

* * *

9:30 am, BAU bullpen.

Derek Morgan looked at his watch for at least the 5th time in the last 15 minutes. He had been at work for 45 minutes and had yet to see Garcia come in. Every morning Derek would arrive to work at 8:45 and he would make two cups of coffee, one black for him and a second with three sugars for Garcia. Every morning by 8:50, she would come rushing in in a blur of colorful clothing and blonde hair. 'Good morning, Hot Stuff,' Derek would greet her as he handed her her mug and, without fail, she would respond with a cheeky, 'I'll show you a good morning, Hot Stuff."

This morning, Garcia's cup of coffee had long gone cold. By 9:15, Derek had started trying to call her cell phone to no avail. Now it was 9:30 and Garcia was still nowhere to be seen. The hair on the back of Derek's neck was starting to tingle and he headed to Hotch's office.

"Hey, Hotch, can I talk to you for a minute?" Derek asked as he rapped his knuckles on Hotch's open door.

"Come in, Derek. What can I do for you?" Hotch asked as he looked up from his ever present stack of paperwork.

"Just wondering, have you heard from Garcia this morning?"

"No, should I have?" Hotch asked as he looked at Morgan with one eyebrow raised sensing that something was wrong from the tone of Morgan's voice.

"I don't know, Hotch. She's not here and I can't raise her on her phone, it keeps going to voicemail…it's not like her."

"Have you checked with Lynch?" Hotch inquired. "Maybe he knows something."

"No," Derek said with almost a grimace. He never did like Lynch all that much and could never understand what Penelope had seen in the nerdy, uncoordinated computer tech. "I guess I could do that. If he doesn't know anything, do I have your permission to go check her place? I know it's crazy but I just have this crazy feeling that something's not right.

Hotch looked at Morgan in the eye for a few seconds and then answered, "Go ahead, but if you go to her apartment take JJ with you and let me know whatever you find out. I'm sure it's nothing but it can't hurt to check. And if you find her, tell her she better have a good excuse for being late."

With just a nod, Derek was out the door and headed toward the elevator to the 2nd floor of the FBI headquarters to the office of Kevin Lynch. Lynch was working with his back to the door as Morgan entered.

"Hey Lynch"

Kevin jumped as he turned around, surprised to see Derek Morgan in his office, truly the last person he ever expected to see there. "Uhm, Agent Morgan, what can I do for you?" Lynch asked in his usual nervous manner.

"Chilll, Lynch," Derek said, "I'm just looking for Garcia, have you seen her this morning?"

"Penny? No, why would I have seen her?"

"Gee, I don't know Lynch, maybe because you're her boyfriend?" Derek said with annoyance.

"Oh, well, I guess she didn't tell you…" Lynch responded.

"Tell me what? Come on Lynch ,spit it out."

"Well, uhm, Penny and I broke up last week. I haven't seen her since last Wednesday night", Kevin said with a shrug.

"Damn", Derek cursed as he headed out the door.

By 10:15 am, Derek and JJ were knocking on Garcia's apartment door. When there was no answer, JJ took out the key Garcia had given her for emergencies and let herself and

Derek into the apartment.

"Garcia?" Derek yelled out as he started to look around the apartment.

""Derek, look at this," JJ directed as she examined the side table just inside the front door. "Her purse and keys are still here and her favorite coat is still on the hook."

Standing near the couch in her living room, Derek looked down, noticing something sticking out from underneath. Bending down he pulled out a pair of red pumps. "Hey, JJ, aren't these the shoes Garcia had on the other night at the bar?"

"I think so. Derek, I don't like the look of this."

"Me either, JJ. Garcia's apartment may be cluttered but she's a neat freak. She would never leave her shoes under the couch for two days. Get Hotch on the phone and let him know what's going on. I'm going to start checking with the neighbors. Something's wrong and I have a feeling we're already 36 hours behind her," Derek said as he rushed out the door, a sour taste forming in the pit of his stomach.

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of the regular characters. Evan Wallace, however is all mine. Wonder if they'll make me a trade, Evan for Derek??? Nahhhh._

Chapter 3

Within 30 minutes the rest of the team had joined JJ and Derek at Penelope's apartment. They were scouring the rooms for any clues that might give a hint as to where to she could be but as of so far, no luck. Derek, who had been talking to Penelope's neighbors walked back into the living room with a short, round, grey-haired woman shuffling behind him.

"Hotch, this is Mrs. Kazinski, she and her husband own and manage this building. They live in the first floor apartment suite. Mrs. Kazinski, why don't you tell Agent Hotchner what you just told me downstairs," Derek urged the older woman with a scowl on his face.

"Look young man, it's like I told you downstairs, I was just doing her a favor. I can't be held responsible for everybody's comings and goings around here, much less that of their company," the landlady said in a huff.

Seeing that the landlady was nervous and agitated, Hotch gently steered her towards the couch to have a seat. "Mrs. Kazinski, I'm sure Agent Morgan is not accusing you of anything, we just need to know where Ms. Garcia is and anything you tell us might help."

Sighing as if this was all a waste of her time, Mrs. Kazinski agreed and began to explain, "It was late on Saturday night. Harry, my husband, was already in bed so it must have been around 10:00 pm and someone knocked on my door. Now, tell me, young man, what type of decent person comes knocking on someone's door at 10:00 at night? I looked out the peephole and there was a disheveled looking boy of about 18-20 years old at my door. Young people these days, they just all dress so dreadfully and always look a mess with all that long hair and tattoos," she complained as she shot a disgusted look at Morgan's arms.

"Yes, Ma'am," Hotch answered a little impatiently. "Mrs. Kazinski, can you please tell us what happened next?"

"Oh, well, I opened the door of course but with leaving the chain on…you can never be too safe these days, you know. The young man said his name was David Garcia and that he was out here from California to visit his Aunt Penelope but that she must have forgotten his plane was coming in tonight and he wondered if I minded to let him in to her apartment until she got home."

"And you just let him in?" Derek asked incredulously.

"Well, he seemed to know all about her and who am I to tell him no. It was late and he needed a place to stay and sure enough if I had not allowed him in than Ms. Garcia would have had my head for not doing so. Like I said, I can't responsible for every one of my tenant's lives." she stated with a shrug.

"Well thank you Mrs. Kazinski. We may want to talk to you some more later, so please don't go very far," Hotch said as he stood from the couch.

"Excuse me Hotch, but do you mind if I ask a couple of quick questions?" Reid broke in.

"Sure, Mrs. Kazinski, this is Dr. Reid and he does have a couple of more questions for you if that's ok?

"Hell, why not, morning's shot already anyways," the haggard landlady grumped.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kazinski," Reid started. "Just curious, you said the boy told you he was here from California, did he have any bags or suitcases with him?"

"Well, no, I guess he didn't," she replied hesitantly.

"Didn't that strike you as odd? That he had come all the way across country and had no luggage?" Reid inquired.

"Look young man, I don't pry into others people's business. Maybe he left the bags at the airport or something, I don't know!" Mrs. Kazinski replied indignantly.

"Yeah, I guess he could have," Reid agreed trying to placate the lady. "Just one more question, Mrs. Kazinski, you mentioned tattoos. Do you remember what any of them looked like?

"Hell boy I don't know."

"Please, ma'am, it may be important. Anything you remember about him….," Reid gently urged.

"Oh, all right, let's see. If I remember correctly, I thought they were kind of strange because he had these letters tattoed on his knuckles. Why in the world would someone tattoo their knuckles?" she wondered out loud.

"I don't know Ma'am but do you remember what the letters were?" Reid asked starting to lose his patience.

"Hang on, give me a second to remember!:" After a moment's thinking, Mrs. Kazinski nodded her head. "Yep, I do remember, one hand said MOM and the other one said DAD. Strange if you ask me."

"OK, great Mrs. Kazinski, you've been a great help. You can go now but one of the policeman may be coming by later with a sketch artist to get a drawing of the boy at your door," Reid explained.

"Well just peachy, like I don't have better things to do with my time but send him down, I'll be there. Now if you excuse me, I've got to get that no-good, lazy husband of mine out of bed," she stated as she turned and left the apartment.

"A real charmer, that one," Rossi snickered as he watched her leave.

'I can't believe she just let this kid into Penelope's apartment!" Derek exclaimed in anger. When she gets back, I'm going to strongly suggest she moves the Hell out of this place!

"Probably a good idea, Derek, but for now we've got to figure out where she's at," Hotch observed. "I think we've got all the information we're going to get from here. Let's head back to the BAU and get to work on what we got and where we need to go from here. I'll leave a uniform here in case she shows back up. JJ make sure you grab Penelope's cell phone and bring it with you in case someone tries to call in on it."

As the group turned to leave, Derek reached out and touched Hotch on the arm. "Hey, man, you think she's ok?"

"I hope so Derek but until we know more, I can't say. There's no sign of a struggle and that's a good thing. Who knows, maybe she left willingly for some reason."

"God I hope so, Aaron." Derek worried as he ran a palm over the top of his bald head, "I hope so."

_TBC_

_I know it's a fairly short chapter but I don't have too much time today. Heading down to Nashville Tennessee tonight to see Eric Clapton and Roger Daltrey in concert!!! Woo hoo. Not sure if I'll get another chapter up before I leave. If not, it will be tomorrow night. Sorry for the wait but don't worry, more will be coming. _


	5. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own them_

_I had a great time at my concert and I'm ready to get back to the story. I hope you enjoy the update. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews and alerts. _

Chapter 4

Monday - Noon

The team was back in the war room at the BAU offices gathered around the conference table.

"Ok, let's see what we got starting with what we DO know," Hotch directed as he looked at each of his team. "Sometime around 10:00 p.m. Saturday night, Mrs. Kazinski let a white male, approximately 18-20 years old with the words Mom and Dad tattooed across his knuckles into Garcia's apartment. The unsub claimed to be Garcia's nephew from California, David Garcia, but had no luggage or bags with him."

JJ spoke up. 'Something about the name David Garcia has been bothering me ever since I heard it and I think I just figured out what it is."

"What's that, JJ?" Emily asked.

"Garcia is Penelope's last name only because she took her step-dad's name when her mom remarried. By that time, all of her brothers were pretty well grown and they kept their real dad's last name of Jansen so none of her nephews should have the last name of Garcia," JJ explained.

"Well that makes sense. Penelope definitely looks more like a Jansen than a Garcia,"

Rossi chuckled along with the rest of the team.

"Ok JJ, have a tech double check on that. Get someone to check on Garcia's family history and just make sure that there are no nephews by the name of David Garcia but I believe you're right and it's just going to confirm what you just told us." Hotch ordered. "Ok, what else do we know?"

"Well I know that Garcia made it back to her apartment on Saturday night, I followed her home in my truck," Morgan explained. "Damn, why didn't I get out and walk her to her door?"

"Because you had no reason to believe there was anything out of the norm," Rossi said trying to comfort the younger agent knowing Morgan was feeling guilty.

"So this kid was evidently waiting for her in her apartment when she got home but there's no signs of a struggle so I think we can assume she knew him and had no reason to be scared of him, at least at first," Emily concluded.

"Yeah, but on the other hand I find it hard to believe that she willingly left the apartment leaving behind any form of identification or communication seeing that we found her purse and phone. She never goes anywhere without either of those," JJ chimed in.

Glancing at Reid, Hotch noticed he seemed to have a troubled look on his face. "What's troubling you, Reid?"

"Well, if she really was forced from her apartment Saturday night, over 36 hours ago, why hasn't any contact been made by the abductor? If it's not ransom, what's the motive here?

Statistics show that in the majority of cases in which the abductor and abductee know each other prior to the act, it's a ransom situation. Someone should have been contacted by now if that's the case."

Morgan outwardly grimaced as thoughts of what the other motives for Garcia's abduction could be. He was just thankful that Reid had shown the self control not to mention the statistics of rape among kidnap victims that he knew were high. He was doing his best to keep his emotions in control but Derek's worries were quickly escalating. Emily, who was sitting closest to Morgan, noticed his discomfort and reached over to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

As the team digested Reid's comments, a young agent walked into the room handing Hotch a stack of papers.

"It looks as if Mrs. Kazinski came up with somewhat of a description for the sketch artist," Hotch said as he started handing out the illustrations.

"This is pretty generic, Hotch," Morgan frowned as looked at the drawing.

"Well, it's more than we had before. Emily, Rossi, Morgan; I want you to divide up and take some of these around to local tattoo shops and see if any of them recognize this kid as matching up with the mom and dad tattoos the landlady described ," Hotch directed.

"Do you realize how many tattoo shops there are in this area, Hotch? It will take us a week to get to all of them!" Emily protested.

"Right now it's all we've got to go on so let's not waste any time getting started," Hotch stated. "JJ, I want you to stay here and work with the tech on Penelope's family. Also, touch base with Lynch, see if he knows anything."

Hearing Lynch's name, triggered something in Morgan's mind. "Hotch, I forgot to tell you. Lynch said that he and Penelope broke up last week. He said he hasn't seen her since Wednesday. You think she would have been upset enough to leave over the break up?"

"Right, JJ follow up on that" Hotch directed. "Reid, you and I need to go back over to the apartment complex and talk to some neighbors again, see if anyone else saw anything and connect with the local authorities to see what they've come up with. If anybody finds anything, contact the rest of us right away!" With their orders given, the team headed out.

* * *

4:00 pm - Monday

Penelope had long finished the food Evan had brought her and had spent the next several hours scouring every inch of the basement that the restriction of the chain would allow her to get to. Unfortunately, she had found nothing that would help her. After that, her emotions had gotten the best of her and she had sat and cried for a long time as wondered frantically how she was going to get out of this. Finally, just when she had given up hope of Evan actually coming back, the stairwell door opened and he descended the steps.

"Evan!" she said in relief. As much as she worried about where his plans were headed, the thought of spending more time in alone in the dark, musty basement scared her just as much. "I was afraid you had forgotten about me."

Evan stopped in front of her and crossed his arms. "Nope. Just wanted to make sure you know what it feels like to be abandoned. Not so great is it, Ms. Garcia?"

"Oh, Evan. I never abandoned you, hon. You're important to me. It's just that there were other people who needed me too and I had to make sure I got to everyone," Penelope tried to explain to the troubled young man. His use of her last name again had not surpassed her notice.

"Yeah, and you chose to put me last! Well, that won't be a problem anymore, will it? Now your attention will go to me first, last and every time in between," Evan stated.

"Well you've certainly got my attention now, Evan, but how long do you think this is going to last? I've always been straight Evan, wouldn't you rather have someone here that wants to be here instead of being forced to be here? This isn't the way to solve anything. Let me go and I promise I'll do whatever it takes to get you whatever help you need. I'll personally work with you however long it takes to get you back on your feet." Penelope knew she was rambling but she was hoping beyond hope that somehow she could reason with Evan and make him understand that what he was doing was wrong. Right now it was the only option she saw that she had. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"You're all the same!" Evan screamed angrily. "I thought you were different. I brought you here to show you how much you meant to me, that you were the only one I thought cared. I guess I was wrong," he cried as pulled the gun back out of his waistband and pointed it at Penelope's head.

_TBC. _


	6. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: For the umpteenth time, I don't own Criminal Minds…CBS does!_

_I realized I had a slight continuity problem in my last chapter with some comments that Morgan had made about Lynch. I have changed the line a little bit to make more sense. SOrry for any confusion..shouldn't effect the story line much anyways. Muse must have had a grey moment : )_

Chapter 5

Penelope turned her head, closed her eyes and said the five words she now knew she would never get the chance to say out loud again…"I love you, Derek Morgan", and waited for the end to come. After about 30 seconds she realized she was still there and cautiously turned to look back to where Evan was standing. The gun was still pointed at her head but it was shaking as the man-child who was holding it was crying. Penelope knew his resolve was faltering and she felt she might have one more chance.

"Evan, you don't want to do this," she pleaded. "Put the gun down and come over here and talk to me. We can work this out." Penelope held her breath as she waited to see what he would do.

Soon, Evan slowly began to lower the weapon. "You're right, Penelope, I don't want to hurt you but you have to stop trying to leave me. I promise, if you give me a chance, you'll see that I'll take good care of you."

Knowing she had been granted a second chance, Penelope relented for the time being and decided it would smart to work with Evan, at least until her team had time to find her. Surely they would be looking for her by now. Derek would surely be raising a red flag when she didn't show up for work that morning. Even though their relationship had been somewhat strained over the last year, she knew there was still a connection between the two friends like few other people had…at least she prayed it was still there for Derek as it was for her. She would have to believe that if she was going to make it through this.

* * *

9:00 pm - Monday

Emily, Derek and Rossi had spent the last nine hours combing every last street in Quantico for tattoo parlors, showing the sketch to every person who had ever even thought of holding a tattoo needle. They had all met up at a diner to compare notes and to grab a quick bite to eat.

"Either of you have any luck?" Derek asked as he saw Emily and Rossi approaching from the parking lot of the diner.

"Nothing. It's like this kid never existed," Rossi said as the three entered the diner and sat in a booth.

"I think I've talked to half the population of Virginia today and nobody has ever seen a damn thing," a frustrated Emily added.

"Damn!" Morgan exclaimed. "How hard can it be to find a kid with the words 'Mom' and 'Dad' tattoed on his knuckles? We're the damn FBI and we can't even find a single kid who we even have a drawing off, albeit a crappy one, but still!" Derek cursed under his breath and ran his hand over the back of his neck as his frustration bubbled to the surface.

A young, pretty waitress had been approaching the table when she heard Derek's comments. "Excuse me, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but did you say you were looking for someone with 'Mom' and 'Dad' tattooed on his knuckles?"

"Yes, we did," Rossi answered. "Do you know someone like that, Miss?"

"I might," she said somewhat evasively. "I heard you say you were with the FBI, can I see a badge or something first?" Searching for tattoo parlors didn't always lead to the best part of town, and understanding her fear of revealing information to the wrong people, the three agents quickly handed over their credentials for her to inspect.

"These look real enough," the young girl said as she inspected the badges. "Hey, do you know a lady by the name of Penelope Garcia? I think she works for the FBI, too."

Hearing Penelope's name the three agents immediately perked up. "You know Penelope?" Morgan asked eagerly.

"Well, yeah, she works over at the CCC where I sometimes go."

"The CCC?" Emily inquired.

"The Chapman Counseling Center, just around the corner on Howard Avenue," the waitress informed the agents. "Ms. Garcia volunteers over there a couple of nights a week teaching some computer courses and doing some counseling. She's helping me with a night school course in technology that I'm taking. I want to be a computer tech just like her someday," the waitress said with a smile.

"And the boy with the tattoos, does he go to the CCC, too?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, sometimes. I've seen him talking to Ms. Garcia a few times. He never talks to anyone else and usually only comes when she's there. Is he in trouble or something?"

Not wanting to scare off the best lead they had, Rossi decided he needed to tread lightly when answering. "We're not sure, that's why we need to find him and talk to him. Both he and Ms. Garcia may need our help right now but we can't seem to locate him to ask him a few questions that may provide that help. Do you know his name?"

After thinking for a few seconds, the young waitress evidently decided it was ok to tell the agents what she knew. "I only know his first name…it's Evan. I haven't seen him for a few days, though. He's kind of weird and doesn't associate much with other people. He's kind of creepy. Someone told me that he did those tattoos on his knuckles himself, can you imagine?"

"Well that would explain why we couldn't find any information at the tattoo shops," Morgan mumbled. Holding up the picture he asked the waitress if that could be the boy she knew as Evan.

"It could be…it looks a little like him, I guess."

Before anyone could say anything else, Morgan was up and out of the booth. As he headed out of the diner, he looked over his shoulder and told Rossi that he was headed over to the counseling center and asked them to call Hotch and let him know what was going on.

"Man, he was sure in a hurry! Are you sure everything's all right?" the young girl asked as she watched Morgan head out the door.

"Yeah, you've been a great help, uhm….Natalie?" Rossi said as he looked at her name tag. "We really appreciate it." As Emily and Rossi got up to follow Derek to the CCC, Rossi slipped a $100 bill into the young waitress' hand. "Put this toward your classes Honey, I'm sure you'll make Ms. Garcia proud one day," he said as they left leaving the young girl speechless.

_TBC_


	7. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds_

Chapter 6

It was now almost 11:00 pm on Monday night and the members of the BAU team were once again gathered around the conference room table. After leaving the diner, Morgan, Rossi and Prentiss had made their way over to the counseling center and had spoken with a woman by the name of Ellen who had recognized the description of Evan and had been able to provide them with this last name. However, she had no records that indicated a home address or any other contact information for him. She had also informed the agents of what little she knew about Evan's background including his parents' murders and that she believed he had been involved in the foster care system. On his way back to the BAU, Morgan had called in and had JJ get the tech working on what he could find out about the murders and Evan Wallace.

Looking up from the reports they had been given by the tech, Emily commented, "This kid has had a hard life. First his parents are murdered, then he's thrown into the foster system where he's shuffled from one home to another and then he's unceremoniously thrown out on the street when he reaches 18. I would be angry, too."

"So we've got a disturbed kid who is pissed off because everything and everyone he's ever known has screwed him over and now he's wanting someone to take it out on. Just fucking great!" Morgan spit out as he paced the conference room. "And nobody has a clue where to find him!"

"According to the lady at the counseling center, Penelope seemed to have been able to make somewhat of a connection with him though," Rossi added. "Let's hope that's to her advantage."

"Garcia's pretty good at connecting with teenagers, we all saw that recently in Wyoming," Reid observed. "Hopefully, wherever he's taken her, she'll be able to keep him calm and talking."

"Hopefully's not good enough, damn it!" Morgan raged, his worry manifesting itself in anger. "He's had her for 48 hours and we all know that most kidnap victims don't survive much longer than that and if they do, well, it's not something I even want to think about!" Morgan slumped in the nearest chair and put his head in his hands.

Hotch walked over and put a comforting hand on Morgan's shoulder. "We've got every available cop on the street looking for Wallace. We'll find him and Penelope, Derek."

* * *

400 a.m. – Tuesday Morning

After the whole episode with the gun, Penelope and Evan had spent hours just talking. The poor kid was like a lost soul just trying to find his way and while Penelope didn't approve of his methods, she was beginning to understand more and more his need for someone he could count on. Between his parents' murders and the failure of the system to do their job correctly, Evan had nothing he could call his own and no one who gave a damn about him. The need for meaningful human contact was basic, just like food and shelter and, for the most part, Evan had been denied that for the past six years. His mind was just doing what it needed to fulfill that need.

However, understanding all of that didn't help Penelope's situation at all. No matter how she tried, she couldn't get Evan to even unchain her, much less release her, regardless of the promises she made to him. She had to think of something! She had worked with the BAU long enough to understand that the longer a kidnap victim was held, the less their chances of survival and although she didn't think Evan really wanted to hurt her, if his delusions kept growing he may not be able to control his impulses for much longer.

At this point, Penelope really had no idea how long she had been in the basement. It could have been hours or days. The windows had all been blacked out and she had lost all sense of day or night. Occasionally, Evan would bring her food and call it breakfast or lunch or whatever, but she really couldn't tell what time of day or night it was. Time had become an intangible concept. However, she did know she had been there long enough to really want a change of clothes and a way to wash up and with that thought an idea began to form in her mind.

* * *

8:30 a.m. Tuesday Morning

Evan descended the stairwell bringing Penelope his usual hodge-podge of food. This morning it was an apple, a can of Coke and a stale donut. Evan was, for the most part, a street kid and whatever he had to eat was whatever he had managed to steal or beg for that day. Of course, by now, Penelope was thankful for whatever he brought her.

This morning, during their breakfast, Penelope had decided to broach the subject of getting some clean clothes, hopefully the start of a plan that would lead to her rescue from the horrible basement.

"Hey, Evan, if I'm going to be staying here with you, don't you think I could use some supplies? Maybe a toothbrush and some extra clothes? I know my breath is really wonky about now and my clothes smell like mildew from this basement."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess I hadn't thought about that. I can try to find you something to wear but I don't really have any money to buy you anything. Maybe the goodwill or something."

"Actually, I've got a better idea," Penelope replied, hoping she wasn't about to push things too far. "Everything we need is at my apartment, including some extra money I'm sure you could use. Why don't you go there and pick up a few things for me? I'll tell you right where everything is."

"No way! Are you crazy? There's cops all over that place. You're trying to get me caught, ain't you Penelope? I thought you were over that, I thought you understood how things have got to be?" Evan cried as his hand went back towards the gun he now carried with him constantly.

"NO! Evan, listen to me, Honey!" Penelope had expected this and knew she had to talk fast to get him to listen. "I work for the FBI, right? So I know how this works. Sure, the cops were all over my place to begin with but I've been gone how long now – two, three days? By now they've already searched the whole apartment and when they didn't find anything, they've moved on to other places. It doesn't take them long to finish searching a place. And by now they must have realized I'm not coming back there so it's just a waste of time for them to stay there. Listen to me, Evan, I'm not lying, I see this all the time whenever I watch them work a case." Penelope hated lying more than anything but knew that sometimes you just had to do what you had to do.

Evan thought for a moment, not sure whether to believe Penelope or not but the thought of having some extra cash was extremely tempting. "Are you sure about this? I want to believe you but I'm not sure I can trust you yet."

"C'mon Evan, who is the only person who has been your friend? Me, right?" Penelope continued as she crossed her fingers behind her back. "I wouldn't lie to you Evan, please. I'll tell you where I hide my key and it won't take you a minute and you'll be in and out before anyone notices. And if you grab my wallet in my purse, I have about $100 in there that would sure come in handy."

"All right, I guess you're right," Evan agreed, the thought of that much money being to tempting to resist. "But I'm not going until after dark, just to make sure."

Sighing with relief, Penelope just nodded her head, praying that she was right and that Hotch would have left at least a local police officer posted at the apartments. If she was lucky, by tonight, they would have Evan and he would tell them where she was.

_TBC_


	8. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just borrow them and put them nicely back on the shelf until the next author needs them. _

_Ok, so the muse has indicated that things must get worse before they get better. I tried to talk her out of it but she gets a little stubborn so here goes…_

_And thanks to all my reviewers and readers…you are the best!_

Chapter 7

Tuesday – 9:30 pm

After the Monday night meeting in the BAU war room, Hotch had ordered that everyone go home and get a few hours sleep. He had instructed the local law enforcement agencies to keep the search for Evan Wallace active during the night and to contact him immediately if anyone had any information whatsoever.

Derek Morgan had tried to follow orders and go home but every time he dozed off, images of Penelope being alone and scared would fill his dreams and he would wake up in a cold sweat. Everyone on the BAU team was close but there had always been a special connection between Derek and Penelope. From the first moment he met her, something about her pulled at his heartstrings. And while they were infamous around the FBI for their flirting and practical joking, he also had the urge to protect and take care of her like he had never had for any other woman. Now he felt as if he had let her down.

Finally, around 5:00 a.m., Derek gave up and headed back to the office. Maybe if he went back over the reports on Wallace, something would pop out at him that could give him a clue as to where his Baby Girl was being held.

At 7:30 a.m., when Hotch walked back into the office, that's exactly where he found Morgan, at his desk pouring over the reports.

"Hey, Hotch, have you heard any news from the L.E.O.'s?" Derek asked without even saying good morning. Hotch could tell from looking at him that his colleague hadn't gotten much sleep overnight.

"Nothing. How long have you been here?"

"Since around 5:00 am. I just couldn't sit at home and do nothing. Penelope's out there and I just feel like there's not a damn thing I can do to help her! I couldn't sleep thinking about it so I just came back in," Morgan explained with a weariness in his voice.

"I know what you mean, Derek. I didn't sleep very much myself but I really do think that Wallace probably hasn't hurt her. He took her because she was the only one who gave a damn about him and I don't think he's going to hurt her unless something drastic happens."

"Yeah, well if you don't mind, I can't just sit here any longer waiting to hear something. I'm going out to help the uniforms with the search. Call me if you hear anything, ok?" Derek was going crazy waiting for news to come in. He was a man of action and he felt the only way he could keep himself together was to actively help. Hotch understood and agreed.

For the rest of the day, the BAU team restudied every piece of information they had on Wallace while uniformed officers kept up their search but to no avail. There was no word from either Wallace or Penelope and nightfall was quickly approaching once again. Derek was going out of his mind with worry. He knew the longer Penelope was gone, the worse her chances were of ever making it home. The thought of losing his best friend and this woman who had spent the last six years wrapping herself around his heart, no matter how much he didn't want to admit it, was tearing him apart.

Finally, around 9:00 pm, Hotch called all the agents back to the BAU. He knew they were all tired and frustrated and none of them had hardly eaten or taken a break for the last 12 hours. Derek looked as if he had passed the point of exhaustion hours ago.

Derek couldn't bear the thought of heading back home alone when Hotch ordered them all to take a break for a couple of hours. He needed to feel a connection with Penelope so Derek headed to her apartment instead. He hoped that being surrounded by all of her favorite things would somehow trigger something that would help.

Upon his arrival, Derek dismissed the uniform that was stationed at the apartment door telling him to take a break, that he would watch over the apartment for a couple of hours. For the first few minutes after going inside, Derek wandered around the small apartment just taking in the sights and smells that made up Penelope's life. It scared the hell out of him to think she may never enter these rooms again and that he would never see her beautiful smile again. Feeling helpless and dejected he collapsed onto the couch and sat with his head in his hands as the tears fell.

Derek realized he must have fallen asleep on the couch when he was awakened by the sound of a key in the lock of the apartment door. Immediately becoming alert, he pulled his gun and aimed it at the door, waiting to see who entered. The door slowly opened and he watched as a hand snaked around the door frame, searching for a light switch. As the light came on, the door opened and all of a sudden, standing in front of him clear as day, was Evan Wallace.

At first, the reality that someone was already in the apartment didn't seem to register to Evan. Then slowly recognition crossed his face and he quickly reached into the pocket of his jacket, pulling out his gun.

"Put it down, kid," Derek warned. "You don't have a chance of winning this fight."

"She lied! I should have known, she's just like all the rest!" Evan started to cry and shake as he stared down the barrel of his gun at Derek. "It's no use anymore, I tried but I just can't do it anymore…go ahead and shoot me!"

"I don't want to hurt you, Evan. Penelope wouldn't want that. If she sent you here, it's just because she wanted you to tell us where she was before you got in any more trouble. She cares about you, now put that gun down and tell me where she is and we'll work this thing out," Derek pleaded with the disturbed young man. The last thing he wanted to do was to shoot the kid, he was the only one who could tell them where his Baby Girl was.

"No! She lied to me! She doesn't give a damn about me, nobody does!" With those words, Derek watched in terror as Evan took his own gun and turned it on himself.

"No kid! Don't do it!" Derek yelled as he threw down his own weapon and leapt towards him, hoping to knock the gun out of his hands before it was too late. The sound of a gunshot went off as Derek tackled Evan to the ground. Looking down, Derek could see blood starting to pool underneath the boy's jacket.

"Noooooo!" Derek yelled as he raised himself off of Evan and reached for the kid's neck to feel his pulse. With horror, Derek realized there was nothing to feel. Evan's shot had gone straight through his heart, he had been dead before he ever hit the ground.

Realizing the consequences of what had just taken place, Derek collapsed on the floor beside Evan, hung his head and just repeated to himself over and over again, "I'm sorry Baby Girl."

_TBC_


	9. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: CBS owns Criminal Minds._

Chapter 8

Tuesday 10:30 pm

Neighbors had heard the gunshot coming from Penelope's apartment and had called the police. By the time Hotch and the rest of the BAU team arrived on the scene, Derek was nearly catatonic with regret and the fear that he had ruined any chance of finding Penelope.

As Hotch sat down next to Morgan on the couch the younger agent looked at him with tears falling from his eyes, "Hotch, what the hell have I done?"

"Derek, you didn't do this. Wallace made this decision. You tried to stop him, right? Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, things don't turn out the way we hope," Hotch tried to console his colleague as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"But Penelope, how the hell are we going to find her now? That kid was our only link to her."

Rossi, who had been watching the exchange between Hotch and Derek spoke up, "Morgan, we're not giving up. Somewhere, somebody knows something about this kid and we'll find them and figure this out."

"It's been 72 hours. She's running out of time," Derek stated softly.

* * *

Wednesday 3:15 a.m.

Penelope was really beginning to get worried now. Evan had been gone for what seemed like hours and although she couldn't tell what the time was exactly, she knew it was too long for things to be good. By this time, she had expected either Evan's return or to have been located by Derek and the team.

Now she was alone in the dark; hungry, dirty and scared that no one would ever come for her. Looking around she began to cry as the thought of dying in these conditions was her worst nightmare coming true.

"_C'mon Garcia, buck up girl!" _She thought to herself after a few minutes of tears. "_If there's no one left to help you, then you better find a way to help yourself." _Penelope once again began searching her surroundings hoping beyond hope she would find something she had missed before. Inspecting the wall into which her chain was mounted she began to notice that some parts of it were crumbling. Taking a closer look, she began to pick at the area around the hook. Very slowly she was able to pick small pieces of crumbling concrete away. Picking up the chain she found she was able to use it to bang against the wall and dislodge a few more small pieces. Gaining a new hope, however slight it was, Penelope began working the wall with everything she had.

* * *

Wednesday 8:40 am.

The team had all been up all night long searching through any piece of evidence they could find, looking for any clue that might lead then to their technical analyst. While no one dared to say it out loud, they were all becoming worried that time had run out and that they weren't going to be able to bring Penelope home.

A pin could have been heard dropping in the bull pen when Reid stood up and announced, "I may have something!" Five sets of eyes immediately looked at him with anticipation.

"What is it Reid?" JJ was the first to ask.

"Evan's problems began with his parents' murder, right?" Five heads nodded in unison in response. "So wouldn't it make sense that he go back to where it all started if he had the ability to do so? I had the tech checking out land assessment records for abandoned properties and just noticed that the Wallace's own home was never resold after the murders. It's evidently been standing empty all these years and was recently condemned by the city."

"Reid, you ARE a genius!" Emily said as she kissed him on the cheek.

For the first time in several days, even Derek began to look hopeful. "C'mon what are we waiting for, let's go check it out!"

_TBC_


	10. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish I did, I don't own Criminal Minds, CBS does. (That's probably a good thing, actually!)_

Chapter 9

Wednesday, 9:15 a.m.

It didn't take long for the team to get to the Wallace house. By the time they arrived, they had already donned their blue FBI vests and immediately spilled out of the black government issue SUV's as soon as they hit the driveway.

Looking at the surroundings, it wasn't hard to tell why no one had found Wallace sooner. The house was in severe disrepair and the lawn was nothing but weeds and dead branches. Getting to the front door was a feat in itself and as they approached it they realized it had long ago been boarded up. Heading around to the side of the house, Morgan found a window that had been broken out and yelled to the others that he had found a way in.

As the team entered the dilapidated house, they flicked on their flashlights as most of the windows and doors were either boarded up or were so dirt-covered little light failed to reach inside. Prentiss and Reid immediately headed towards the back of the house, what appeared to be the bedrooms, while JJ and Hotch headed towards the living area at the front of the house. Morgan and Rossi took the kitchen, each agent taking turns yelling out for Garcia praying they would hear a response.

As they searched the kitchen area, Morgan discovered a door that was locked. "Hey Rossi, it looks like this probably leads to the basement but it's got what looks like a new padlock on it. I'm going to shoot the lock off the door, stand back."

As Morgan took aim, Rossi yelled for Hotch and the others to let them know what they had found. Within seconds, the padlock was lying broken on the floor and the team was headed down the stairs into the dark and dank basement, Derek leading the way. His heart beat faster with every step…something was telling him that this was the right place but what would they find? Garcia had failed to answer when they called out, would she even still be alive?

As his flashlight swept over the room below him, Morgan caught a glimpse of something in the far corner. As he neared, he could just make out a tangle of blonde hair and hint of sparkle caught in his flashlight beam shining off the red sequined blouse Garcia had worn out to the Pub on Saturday night.

"I've got her!" he yelled as he ran over and fell down next to her. Brushing her hair aside and feeling her neck for a pulse, he almost cried when he felt the blood pumping through her veins. "Get the medics down here! She's alive but unconscious," he informed the rest of the team who breathed an audible, collective sigh of relief.

As the others took in the scene before them, they began to realize the horror that she must have gone through. "My God, he had her chained to the wall like a dog," Emily said with disgust.

"Yeah, but my Baby Girl, she never gave up," Derek said with pride as he gently took her hands in his. "Look at this, he fingers are completely torn up and bloodied from where she was trying to dig this hook out of the wall. She never stopped fighting." Derek laid her hands back down and gently stroked her matted hair out of her face. As he did, tears started to stream down his face. "I'm so sorry, Baby Girl' he whispered to her, "I should have never let this happen to you. I should have walked you to your door that night. Please, you've got to be all right. I have to have the chance to make this up to you."

"Derek," Hotch reached out and tapped him on the shoulder, hating to interrupt but having to get his attention, "c'mon, the medics are here. Let them in to take care of her, she'll be in good hands."

Nodding his head, Derek slowly stood and just backed away far enough for the medics to get in. Determined not to let her out of his sight, however, he stood over them and watched every move they made as they cut her from the chain and began to check out her injuries.

"How is she?" Derek asked anxiously.

"We won't be able to tell for sure until we get her to the hospital, but she appears ok," the medic informed him. "A little dehydrated, mal-nourished and a few cuts and bruises, but other than that I think she's going to be ok."

"Thank God," Rossi spoke out and voiced the sentiment that all of the team members were feeling at that moment.

As the medics prepared to transport her to the hospital, Derek informed Hotch that he would be riding in the ambulance with his girl. It wasn't a question as much as a declaration but Hotch readily agreed and told him the rest of the team would meet them there.

As the medics rolled the gurney out of the house and into the sunlight of the morning, Penelope stirred as she felt the heat on her face. "Hey Baby Girl," Derek said with a smile as he stopped the medics and leaned over her so she knew he was there.

Penelope returned his smile and with a slight cough and raspiness in her voice replied, "I knew my Noir Hero would show up."

And the rest of my superheroes, they're here too?" she asked as she tried to look around.

"Yes, sweetness, they're all here," Derek let her know as he wiped some of the dirt off her face.

"Then all is well," she said as her eyes closed and she fell back asleep.

_TBC…._

_Probably only another chapter or two, but I do want have her find out about Evan, so a little more to go. Thanks so much for continuing to read and review. _


	11. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: C'mon…everyone say it with me: I don't own Criminal Minds!_

Chapter 10

Once she arrived at the hospital, Penelope's hands were bandaged and an IV was hooked up in order to provide her the nutrition she needed to regain her strength. Other than that the doctor had given her a clean bill of health and had said she had come through her ordeal remarkably well. "She's sleeping now, her body's exhausted. Give her time to get the rest she needs and we should be able to release her in the morning," the doctor informed the team who were all in the waiting room.

Turning to the others, Hotch said, "That sounds like good advice and something we could all use; a good meal and some rest. Why don't we go home and we can come back and check on Garcia later when she's awake." Everyone except Derek nodded in agreement.

"If you don't mind, Hotch, I'm going to stay. I don't want her to be alone when she wakes up and I don't want her finding out about Evan from anyone else," Derek replied.

"I would expect nothing less, Derek. Tell her we're all thinking about her and we'll be back around later to check on her. Call us if you need anything and please try to get some rest, yourself. Garcia will never forgive me if she wakes up to find you sick."

With that said, the team left as Derek headed towards Penelope's room. As he approached the entrance to her room, he stopped in the doorway and just watched as she slept. The dirt had all been cleaned off her face and the filthy clothes exchanged for a white hospital gown. He chuckled to himself as he thought how much she would hate the thought of him seeing her without makeup and her hair all fixed. If she only knew how naturally beautiful he thought she really was.

Sighing, he drew a chair up to the bed and sat down next to her as he gently took her bandaged hand in his. Softly she murmured in her sleep as his hand touched hers…."Shhhh, Baby Girl. It's all right, I'm here," he soothed. "Just sleep and I'll be here whenever you are ready to wake up. I'm not going anywhere."

Several hours later, Derek jerked awake as he heard the sound of soft laughter coming from the bed. Realizing he must have fallen asleep himself, he looked up to find Garcia looking well rested with the sparkle back in her eyes, "Hey sleepy head, nice to see you finally decided to wake up. I was about to tell the nurse to get a pulse on you to make sure you were still alive," she teased.

"Oh, uhm, sorry about that Princess, I guess I'm not being a very good hero am I?" Derek replied with a slightly embarrassed grin. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"It's okay, Sugar. You looked so wonderfully delicious sitting there, I was enjoying the view and thinking this must be how you look at home in bed and any chance I get to think of you in bed, well...." she let the sentence dangle as she winked at him.

"Well I can see that you are feeling much better!" Derek chuckled as he switched from the chair to sitting on the bed next to her. "And since you are…Sweetheart, we need to talk," he said as he became much more serious.

"Oh, Derek, if this is about you feeling guilty about not walking me to my door, don't be ridiculous, Honey. I don't blame you for anything that happened. There was no way you could have known about Evan, much less that he was waiting in my apartment. You can't be with me every minute of the day although I love how you want to protect me. Please don't blame yourself."

"I DO feel guilty about that Garcia but that's not what I'm talking about," Derek tried to explain. "It's Evan…"

"Evan? What about him?" she asked. "I mean you've got him and he's getting help, right? That's all that matters."

"Penelope, there's no easy way to say this…Evan's dead Baby Girl."

"DEAD? What are you talking about Derek? I mean, I knew that when he didn't come back that something was wrong but I figured he just got cold feet and ran. What do you mean he's dead? How?" Penelope was clearly shaken by the news and the tears began to fall as she processed the news. Sure, Evan had done horrible things but he had never really meant to hurt her and she understood that a lifetime of hurt had led him to take the actions he had.

Reaching out to wipe the tears off of her face, Derek explained everything that had happened the previous night…from his going to stay in her apartment, to Evan showing up, to Derek trying to stop him from taking his own life. When he was done, Penelope just sat silently for a few minutes and Derek was sure that she would blame him for what had happened…and maybe she was right.

Instead, she did the complete opposite and began to blame herself. "Oh my God," she finally blurted out. "Derek, I sent him there. I should have known that something like that would happen but I was just concerned about myself. Poor Evan!"

"Baby Girl, take your own advice and stop blaming yourself," Derek instructed as he took her in his arms and pulled her into a warm embrace. "Evan has been headed for disaster for a long time coming, I would suspect, and neither you nor I could have stopped this. I'm sorry it happened but I'm more concerned about your safety and am just thankful that you weren't hurt any more than you were."

Penelope just grasped Derek tighter into the embrace as she cried until her tears were gone. She knew he was right, they couldn't save everyone, but Evan had been a personal project of hers and his death hurt her more than she ever would have imagined.

Pulling back from his arms, she looked Derek in the eyes, "I know Evan did awful things but he was a good boy at heart, I would like to do something for him."

Penelope's deep compassion for others was one of the things that Derek loved about her. "Sure, baby, anything."

"Derek, can we make sure he gets a decent burial? I would love to bury him next to his mother and father. He used to visit their graves all the time. I want to buy him a beautiful headstone, show the world that someone really did care for him."

Drawing her close again and giving her a kiss on the top of her head, Derek agreed, "That's a wonderful idea, Penelope. I'll start the arrangements and as soon as you are out of here, we'll make sure it happens. Now, you need to dry your tears and get some more rest. The team will all be back here soon and if you're not well rested and smiling Hotch will have my head on a platter."

With a sparkle in her eye and mischevious grin on her face Penelope looked him up and down and said, "He can have your head as long as he leaves me with the rest of my chocolate, sculpted God of Thunder!" At that moment, Derek knew his Baby Girl was well on her way to healing, both physically and emotionally.

_TBC…_

_One more chapter I think, an epilogue. Possibly something light and fluffy for our couple. _


	12. Epilogue

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Criminal Minds but if I did Morgan and Garcia would get their act together!_

Epilogue

It had been three days since Penelope had been released from the hospital. It was a sunny, Sunday afternoon and she and Derek, along with the rest of the team and a few people from the counseling center, were standing alongside a fresh grave that sat under a beautiful Maple tree.

The service for Evan had been short and simple. When it was over, Penelope reached down and laid out three yellow daisies, one for each member of the Wallace family. Evan's headstone had yet to be delivered but when it was set would simply read

"Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them."

Penelope had once read the quote and felt that it suited Evan perfectly…he had become no more than the world had believed him to be. She hoped the headstone would serve as a lesson to all of those who saw it.

After the service when there was no one left except Derek and Penelope, he stepped back and gave her a few moments alone. Wiping a final tear from her eye, she rejoined Derek as they headed towards his truck.

"You ok, Baby Girl?" he asked as he helped her into the passenger seat.

"Yeah, I think so. It's all so sad but at least I have a little bit of closure and I know that Evan is finally at peace and with his parents again. We both know what it's like to lose a parent, don't we Derek? We were just lucky that there were others in our life who cared and were willing to step in. I'm not sure I would have turned out any different from Evan if my circumstances had been the same," she mused.

"Me either, Sweetheart," Derek agreed as he slid behind the steering wheel and started the truck.

Letting the engine idle, Derek turned and looked her straight in her beautiful brown eyes, "You do know, Penelope, that no matter what happens, I'll always be here for you…you're never alone," he said tenderly. "I know that for the last several months, things have been hard and we've both let things slide between us but I want you to know that I never stopped caring about or loving my Baby Girl. I just wish it hadn't taken something like this to bring me back to my senses. I promise, I'll never let things get so distant between us again. I need you in my life. I love you, as my best friend, as a woman and as my soulmate."

Penelope's heart was breaking and rejoicing at the same time as she listened to Derek's words and saw the honesty shining in his eyes. She knew exactly how he felt, she had been feeling the same way for a long time. "I'm sorry too, Derek, and I've missed you. I just didn't know how to go back after the things I said about Tamara. It was none of my business, you're old enough to make your own decisions. I just didn't want to see you hurt. Your happiness means more to me than anything because I love you too."

Leaning over, Derek placed a gentle but passionate kiss on her lips. "Then I say we start over but this time I'm going to do things right! Penelope Garcia, will you go out on a date with me tomorrow night? And I mean a real date with dinner and dancing or whatever you want, just the two of us?" he asked with one of his killer smiles.

"Oh, Derek, YES!!!" She practically shouted as she leapt across the seat and hugged him tightly around the neck.

"Damn, Woman!" he laughed, "If I had known I would get a reaction like this, I would have asked you out years ago!"

"And well you should have, Derek Morgan!" she teased back. "Just one thing you should know, Mister, I don't kiss on the first date!"

"Well it's a good thing we're not on that date yet, then," he said as he pulled her close and gave her the kiss he had been longing to give since the day they first met.

_The End!!!!!_

_Or is it just the beginning? I've been thinking about trying to write a fluff piece so maybe I'll write a story about their first date or two. What do you think????? Either way, thanks for reading and reviewing!_


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